East-west drug deal
The German pharmaceutical company Merck has signed a research deal with Chi-Med, a company that produces traditional Chinese medicine and is backed by the Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa. Chi-Med has been developing anti-cancer drugs. Merck is the latest pharmaceutical firm to invest in traditional Chinese medicine, hoping to access the Chinese market and derive new drugs.
From Russia with thallium
Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian spy who fled to the UK in 2000, was this week in intensive care in London after suffering suspected poisoning consistent with receiving radioactive thallium 1 November, though another toxic drug…
